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Latest news from Packaging Innovations & Empack
Packaging with purpose: Extending shelf life, cutting waste
Tom Stone, Packaging Development Manager at Bakkavor, shares practical insights from the factory floor at Packaging Innovations & Empack 2025.
As brands race to meet ambitious sustainability targets and regulations tighten around packaging waste, one of the most powerful tools for reducing environmental impact is often overlooked: the ability to extend shelf life.
That was the core message from Tom Stone, Packaging Development Manager at Bakkavor, during his well-attended session at this year’s Packaging Innovations & Empack, the UK’s leading packaging event, which welcomed a record number of visitors to the NEC Birmingham in 2025.
In his talk, Food for Thought: Developing Packaging Solutions for Longer Shelf Life, Stone urged the industry to broaden its view of sustainability. While packaging is frequently criticised in environmental conversations, he argued that its real potential lies in preventing food waste, cutting carbon emissions, and boosting operational efficiency across the supply chain.
“When we talk about sustainability,” he began, “we’ve very much focused on what the consumer sees, or what the consumer takes home. But actually, from an industry perspective, we need to be thinking more about production, end-to-end — and how we can align our packaging development targets with our sustainability goals.”
The Bigger Picture on Waste
Food waste is an environmental issue — but it’s also an operational one. Stone cited widely quoted UN figures that estimate 30% of food produced globally is wasted, much of it due to issues in the production and logistics phases. In the UK, he said, around 9.5 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year, with 40% of that waste coming from businesses and sectors like manufacturing.
From a carbon perspective, the implications are serious. “With all that ending up in landfill,” he explained, “you get the knock-on effects of global warming, carbon impacts — all those things.”
Packaging is frequently blamed in consumer-facing narratives, but Stone argued that when done right, it is part of the solution. “If we’re generating high levels of packaging waste in factories, that generally means we’ve got inefficiencies somewhere in our production environment,” he said. “It’s about unlocking additional value — and challenging ourselves to find where that waste is really coming from.”
Focus on Shelf-Life: A Missed Opportunity?
One of the key takeaways for Tom is that packaging’s role in preserving freshness is often undervalued. Stone pointed to research from the US indicating that 25% of food waste in supermarkets is related to packaging design. If tackled properly, that could prevent hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food waste — and save hundreds of millions of pounds.
“From our side, shelf-life extension isn’t about glamour,” he said. “It’s about doing the right thing. We need to go back to basics and ask: what is packaging for? It’s got to store the product, protect it, promote it — but more than that, it has to perform through the production process.” He explained that improvements in film performance, machine compatibility, and sealing technology can dramatically increase both efficiency and shelf life.
For Stone, “It’s not always about choosing a new film. It’s about how that film works with the product — how it’s sealed, stored, and handled.”
Production Waste: Looking Beyond the Obvious
Much of the waste Stone addressed during his talk doesn’t occur in consumers’ homes or even in store — it happens on the production line. “Some of the biggest drivers of manufacturing waste are old machinery and tooling,” he explained. “I can’t count how many times I’ve seen production trying to force efficiency through the packaging, when actually the issue is down to poor machine maintenance or worn tools.”
He encourages brands to work closely with engineering teams and suppliers — not just packaging designers — to audit machine readiness and challenge inefficiencies before switching materials. “Let’s check the machinery first before we blame the packaging,” he said.
He also highlighted the issue of overuse. “Flexible packaging — pouch formats, for example — can be a prime example. When you walk around a factory, you’ll often see excess rewind or offcuts. Sometimes that’s down to changeovers or just over-specification.”
Bakkavor tackled this directly through a film rationalisation programme. “It proved really successful. Just by reviewing material sizes and standardising where possible, we were able to cut waste significantly.”
Secondary and Tertiary: Don’t Overlook the Outer Layers
Stone also urged the industry not to ignore secondary and tertiary packaging — like boxes, pallet wrap, and corner posts — which are essential for logistics but often excluded from sustainability strategies.
“Secondary packaging isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing part of the format, but it’s one of the most important,” he said. “It allows us to get products to store in the best condition. If the outer packaging fails in transit, everything inside is wasted.” He challenged attendees at Packaging Innovations to check pallet plans, stacking methods, and warehouse conditions as part of their development work. “Your corrugated supplier can give you ECC levels and performance data. But how often do sites follow that advice? Often, it’s overlooked.”
It’s not just materials and formats that matter — conditions throughout the supply chain can affect shelf life too. “Some materials have very specific storage requirements,” Stone noted. “If they’re not adhered to — whether in the warehouse or in transit — it can compromise performance.”
He also highlights the impact of temperature variation and supply chain handling. “Even slight changes can degrade material or reduce shelf life. That’s why we need to understand every step of the journey.”
Consumer Experience: Function Still Matters
Stone also spoke about packaging functionality — resealability, portioning, and ease of use — as an overlooked contributor to waste prevention.
“If a product can be resealed and kept fresher for longer in the fridge, that’s one less reason for the consumer to throw it away,” he said. “We’ve also done a lot of work on portioning — especially for single-person households, where wasting 30–40% of a product is common.”
Innovations like resealable lidding films or dual-portion trays might not grab headlines, but they have a real impact on reducing food thrown away at home.
A Cross-Functional Effort
For Stone, it is clear that no single department can solve the problem alone. “This isn’t just about packaging teams. We need engineering involved, production, procurement, sustainability — everyone. We should all be asking: where is the waste, and what’s causing it?”
He encourages packaging professionals to spend more time on the factory floor, talking to line operators and watching materials run. “You’d be surprised how many people don’t visit the lines they support. Speak to the operators. Look in the bins. That’s where you’ll find your answers.”
Stone’s stands out not for his use of buzzwords, but for its realism. “It’s easy to chase the latest trend,” he said, “but sometimes the most effective solution is simply getting the basics right.”
If the industry wants to meet its environmental goals, it must start with the unseen details, machine settings, line efficiencies, material handling, and shelf-life optimisation. By focusing less on packaging optics and more on packaging performance, brands can make a measurable difference to both waste reduction and commercial performance.
“We’re all under pressure to cut costs and meet ESG goals,” Stone said. “But if we compromise on packaging performance, we risk increasing waste, inefficiency, and even emissions. We have to look at the whole picture, not just what’s on the shelf.”
Events like London Packaging Week, taking place on 15–16 October at ExceL London, provide a vital platform for innovation and collaboration, giving attendees the chance to engage directly with industry leaders. The path to progress may be challenging, but through shared effort, the future of packaging holds great promise.
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Latest news from Packaging Innovations & Empack
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